With events scheduled in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, Military Appreciation Day will once again provide a day of fishing, food and fun for Military Families and of course it remains completely free of charge for active duty military, guard, reservists and their families!

Our all-volunteer organization and donors from across the country will provide meals, family activities, fishing and entertainment to over 2000 guests this year making our 13th year our best ever!

MAD 2018 Morehead City was June 2

MAD 2018 Tidewater was on August 25

MAD 2018 Southport rocked on September 8

MAD 2018 Charleston – October 13

Although our events have grown and the number of events has increased,
our focus and purpose has not changed –

Event Day: Troop check in and boat departures beginning at 6:00 AM. Cornhole and games beginning when the first boat returns.

Event Day Cookout: 6:00 PM at Rivers Edge Marina. Drawings and giveaways concurrent with the dinner. Live band starting around 7:00 PM.

Number of registered troops: 135

Number of registered boats: 40

Charleston Chapter President Gene Morrison visited with Fox News 24 Charleston for in interview on Wednesday of this week, which aired on the local Fox 24 Charleston evening news Wednesday night. A recording of the interview can be watched here:

While Hurricane IRMA caused a little hiccup in our plans, the good news is that we’ve been able to schedule this great event on 10/21.
We know there will be some troops and boat captains that will not be able to make the new date. We will have some boats without troops and troops without boats. But we will adjust accordingly and shuffle as needed until we have as many troops fishing as possible.

To all the troops that signed up to be our honored guests; as USN retired, I know duty calls but I hope you’re still able to participate. It’s difficult to say how many boats we’ll have the next time around but be assured that, as someone who registered for the 9/10 event, you will have priority for the 10/21 event. You should be receiving an email from the boat coordinator asking you to verify whether you will still be able to participate.

To all the captains that volunteered their boats for the event, you too will be receiving either an email or a phone call to verify whether or not you will be able to make the Oct 21 date.

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Danny Mckeel (Alikat) of Wilson, NC has accepted a position on the MAD Board Of Directors! Danny first became involved with MAD in 2011 in the donor capacity, and now for the past several years as a volunteer boat captain too. Danny truly has a passion for MAD and will be a great asset to the organization. Please join me in welcoming Danny in his increased role with MAD and support him as we all continue our mission to give.

We are having to postpone the MAD Southport event until mid October – perhaps the 14th or the 21st (TBD).

As you are aware, Category 5 Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic, is moving towards Florida. At that point the storm is expected to turn northward. Two things drove our decision. First, weather conditions for the weekend are forecast to be marginal to poor for fishing with strong winds and high seas offshore and strong winds inshore. What should be an enjoyable day on the water was shaping up not to be so. More important, there is a lot of uncertainty on when the Hurricane will make the turn to the north. Whenever that is; you, our skippers and volunteers all need to concentrate on the safety of our families and security of our homes. It makes no sense to have you come down here with a major storm headed to us from the south.

So, we will postpone the event and will let you know very soon when it is rescheduled.

To the troops that have already signed up; you will have priority in October. You will hear from us again soon on the exact date.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. There are 75 skippers and 90 volunteers looking forward to fishing with and meeting you in October.